Showhomes > Exterior design and detailing

Exterior design and detailing

It would be fair to say that McRaeway Homes' Raewyn Bell found her first look at the kitset home builder's Cosmos design somewhat of a surprise.

“It's not a mainstream design like many of our homes, but it's really practical and very liveable. I love it.”

As daughter of McRaeway's founder, the late Ian McRae, Raewyn is understandably very protective of her company's reputation. It's precisely for this reason that, just like her father before her, she was more than willing to push the boundaries and explore the possibilities of a design as dramatic as the Cosmos.

From the outside, the Cosmos definitely provokes comment.

A blend of James Hardie's negative jointed Titan® Facade Panels and 135mm Linea® Weatherboard, there is a narrative thread to the design that makes sense from a number of standpoints.

Check out the photo library of the Cosmos now...

It moves from the great, big block wall look of the Titan panels, almost as a declaration of substance and security, through the highly textured and traditional-looking finish of the Linea Weatherboard and then on to a vast shaded verandah with its suspended “ski ramp” roof flying off, quite literally, to the cosmos.

As designer Matt Tipa says, it's a home that, even after all this time, he finds himself drawn to.

“I've still got a thing for this place. It's such a clean, simple design. It's the kind of home I'd love to build in a great location.”

External cladding is a facet of the design and building process that McRaeway Homes pays particular attention to. Increasingly they are turning to composite looks to build in lasting distinctiveness.

“The Cosmos is a real house of contrasts,” says Matt Tipa. “On the one hand you have the quite hard and austere impression at the front and on the other the light and welcoming look delivered by the Linea. It's worked out very much the way I first imagined it.”

McRaeway Homes has found a lot of uses for Linea, not only in the Cosmos, but in many of their other designs, as Matt Tipa reveals.

“We've been using fibre cement weatherboard products like Linea for a long time now.

It's the depth and thickness of Linea that helps deliver that true bevel-back weatherboard look.

I love the shadow line you get with it and the fact that it's suitable for both traditional and contemporary applications.”

Linea® Weatherboard and Titan® Facade Panels aren't the only James Hardie products used on the exterior of the Cosmos. 6mm HardieFlex Sheets, with negative joints to add visual interest, has also been applied to great effect under the soffits, particularly on the showpiece entertaining area on the verandah. This exceptionally wide and deep area functions almost as an alfresco room and seems certain to become one of the most-used parts of the Cosmos.

All windows are powder coated Elite Aluminium, the roof is Longrun Colorcote® 5 rib profile and the overheight front door is the Manhattan design by Plyco.

As with all McRaeway Homes designs, the Cosmos is provided in kitset form and packaged for ease of delivery to any site. This portability makes for convenience and cost savings, but by building with such durable materials McRaeway has ensured that wherever the Cosmos pops up it will be there to stay.